A Merseyside teenager faces a race against time to save her dream of singing in front of the Pope after her mum lost her passport.

Bridget Boland, 14, is a member of the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral choir which is travelling to the Vatican to sing at a Mass in St Peter’s in Rome to be celebrated by Pope Francis on Sunday.

But her mum Jane, of Crosby , has mislaid Bridget’s passport and has been told by the Passport Office her daughter’s predicament does not meet the criteria for the issuing of an emergency passport.

Mrs Boland said: “I haven’t slept and I’ve been turning the house upside down to try and find her passport.

“I had everything ready and had what I thought was her passport ready on the kitchen table, until I realised it was mine and not hers.

“I’ve contacted the Passport Office to see if she can be given an emergency passport but have been told that because this is not an emergency or life-or-death situation she can’t have one.”

She added: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her to represent her city by singing at the Vatican. It’ll be a huge disappointment if she can’t go.”

The Roman Catholic cathedral choir will accompany the new Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev Malcolm McMahon, to the Vatican and sing at the Mass as he is presented to Pope Francis. The invitation for the choir to sing at the Papal Mass was approved by Pope Francis himself.